The 1992 Los Angeles Riots

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In March of 1991, Rodney King was being pursued by LAPD in a high-speed chase. Eventually he was stopped by police, but when he was detained, the police started beating him with their batons. Police brutality is not something new and was definitely not new at the time either. However, Rodney's case was different because the encounter was recorded, and that recording was broadcasted across the United States and even in other countries. Many people were horrified by the actions they were seeing from these police officers, especially because people believed that police were supposed to work for the people, not against them as this situation showed. Four officers were put on trial for their use of force against King However, in 1992, a jury found all four officers not guilty despite the video evidence of the altercation. This acquittal was what ultimately sparked the 1992 Los Angeles Riots.

When LA Erupted In Anger: A Look Back At The Rodney King Riots : NPR

Three hours after the acquittal was announced, violence broke out throughout South Central Los Angeles. Buildings were burned and looted, white people and white-passing Latinos were pulled out of their cars by rioters.

LA riots: How 1992 changed the police - BBC News

South Central residents had a lot of pent up resentment as unemployment rates, gang activity, and crime rates rose, which contributed to the violent response to this situation. Additionally, the case of Marquette Frye, which inspired the Watts Riots, had just recently happened just 26 years prior to this incident. This was another case of police brutality, which explains why people were so frustrated with the outcome of this situation. Eventually, the mayor declared a state of emergency, and the governor sent in National Guard troops to deescalate the situation. However, after those 5 days of rioting, a lot of damage had been done to the city and private property.

Comments

  1. UnknownOctober 17, 2021 at 1:22 PM

    It's sad to see that we are still faced with the same challenges today. It seems that the violent protests were able to grab the attention of the media and others. I'm curious what their goal was (what were they trying to achieve)? Did they use any tactics aside from violent protests to achieve this? - Irene

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownDecember 5, 2021 at 11:51 PM

    This is a really interesting topic to write about. If this is the essay you're choosing for revisions, I would make sure you provide proper analysis on the rhetorical techniques used and why or why not they were successful in inciting change. - Safira

    ReplyDelete
  3. UnknownDecember 10, 2021 at 7:42 PM

    I agree that this is great topic. Make sure to analyze the rhetorical techniques used in this march.
    ---Sam Zhang

    ReplyDelete

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